Music, Brain And Social Prescription.

Continuing on from my recent series of blogs on sound, music, emotions and psychology... I now want to briefly explore my favourite scientist in this amalgamated area Stefan Koelsch.

Stefan Koelsch has written extensively on the subject and I consider him a bit of a legend.

One of Koelsch’s big topics is how certain parts of the brain respond differently to positive or negative emotions (view the paper here). Music, as it turns out, has a strong influence on this process (who would have known…?). When people listen to music they enjoy or find emotionally moving, their brain activity shifts. For example, the left side of the brain becomes more active during positive, uplifting experiences (like a happy song).

On the flip side, the right side becomes dominant with more negative or sad music. This balance or imbalance essentially shows how music can directly influence mood and emotional states by activating specific parts of the brain. Of course, we have to also acknowledge how all of this brain stuff is quite reductionistic, but non the less it’s a great concept.

One of the other cool things Koelsch highlighted is how unexpected changes in music, like a surprising chord or a dramatic tempo shift can make us feel chills or even bring us to tears (similar to the researcher in the previous blogs). These strong emotional reactions aren’t just in our heads; they’re tied to activity in our brain’s reward system. It is these regions that are also responsible for feelings of pleasure.

Using EEG technology (brain scan type stuff) to track participants’ brain responses to music, emotional, powerful music (as opposed to neutral or dissonant sounds) caused noticeable shifts and made participants feel more intense emotions. Koelsch ties these findings to how music could be used to improve mental health. For instance, listening to happy music might help counteract negative emotional patterns, like those seen in depression, where the right side of the brain tends to dominate.

It’s almost like a scientific approach to what we all know and also what is used in certain types of music listening therapy (The Bonnie method for example). This method of music therapy prescribes different types of classical based music to match or resolve an individual’s psychological difficulties.

Developed by Helen Bonny, (a classical violinist and music therapist ), the music-based therapy uses music to evoke emotions, memories, and insights. Clients listen to carefully selected music while describing their experiences, guided by a therapist to explore their psychological healing and self-awareness. I once did an initial training in this, and it is powerful stuff!

I feel both Koelsh and Bonny are pioneers and provide an artistic and scientific foundation to what most of us already know. Whether trying to relax, energise, or process sadness, music taps into both of our emotional and physiological responses. This is a key part of the Tonic album groups where people are able to articulate and discuss their own emotional relationships to music.

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Adam Ficek hosts a monthly show 'Tonic Music' on Totally Wired Radio, where he talks to various guests about music and mental health. You can listen again to any of the previous show on the Tonic Music Mixcloud page.